With regards to the recent article about sexual assault on college campuses in general and at Conn in particular, I have a few concerns. The first is that the article does not give a satisfactory definition of what a sexual assault is. Because it lacks a definition, the readers, unless highly informed, would have no idea what exactly the college is suffering from. Secondly, the article gives a statistic from the AAUW which says that “65 percent of sexual attacks on a college campus go unreported.” This is a dangerous generalization. Which college campuses? In which states? Are we talking about State schools, the Ivy League, or NESCAC? How could the AAUW possibly know that the above is the case? In addition, there seems to be an assumed meaning of “reported.” How would anyone know if something had occurred without having it be reported to them? If the assumed meaning is “reported to the police”, that would be useful to know, for example. Therefore, I find the statistic very weak and of little value, unless it is further clarified.
Unfortunately the article ignored the basis for the data, and from which schools the data was drawn from. In fact, there is not even a number given for how many sexual assaults occur at all, anywhere, whether at Conn or UConn. In addition, the article seems to use “assault” and “attack” indiscriminately, adding uncertainty to the discussion.
This ambiguity of data severely undermines the persuasiveness of the article to anyone who bothers to actually think about what the article is saying.
Third, the sample size of interviewees regarding access of sexual assault resources is pitifully small; how can one base an assertion pertaining to the whole college based upon the answers of eight students? Let’s assume that the sample actually reflects Conn accurately. If that is the case, then why would the article assume that we knew what sexual assault was, exactly? If we are collectively ignorant of the remedies, how can we possibly be expected to know the actual definition?
This is not to devalue people who have in fact been raped, as that is an offense and crime against the person and the community. All I ask for is clarification, not a call to hysteria.
Sincerely,
Travis Lynch
